Davis stuns Hong Kong star Fu
Mark Davis upset 2007 champion Marco Fu in round one of snooker's Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon.
The St Leonards star edged out the world number eight from Hong Kong by five frames to four at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
Davis, 47th on the official rankings and 36th on the provisional list, won the opening two frames and should have been ahead at the interval only to be level at 2-2.
Fu then took the lead for the first time with a run of 82, but 37-year-old Davis levelled with an 87 and cleared to go 4-3 ahead after his opponent missed the final red.
The Asian player forced a deciding frame with a break of 83 only to see Davis cap an impressive performance with a cool clearance in a 31-minute nail-biter.
It looked as though the match would go the way of whoever potted the final red and Davis laid an excellent snooker behind the black when leading 52-41.
Fu missed with his first attempt, and although he connected at the second time of asking, Davis cleared to pink, including a splendid long yellow, to pull through.
Davis said: "To be 2-2 was devastating really. It was better after the interval, but I'm pleased to get over the line. I was glad to knock those last few balls in, but the yellow was difficult.
"It was game ball. If I missed it, it could have been game over, but if I played it nicely, I'd be on the green. Early on in the last frame I had a couple of bashes and got lucky."
He won't know his next opponent until after the completion of the first round and will have to sit through the random draw with the other 15 winners on Tuesday afternoon.
Victory there would see Davis match his best ever ranking event performance of quarter-finalist in the 1996 German Open and 2001 Scottish Open.
He booked his place at the venue stage for the 2009-10 season's second ranking event by coming through two matches in qualifying at Pontin's, Prestatyn, last month.
Former B&H champion Davis overcame Li Hang 5-3 before whitewashing six-time world champion Steve Davis 5-0, a result he regards as one of his best ever.
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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